


flirting with death. or: being flirted with by death?

by lebsian



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Reaper Julia Burnsides, Roleswap, The Pottery Date TM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27245005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lebsian/pseuds/lebsian
Summary: “Magnus, right? We need to talk,” she says, crossing the room until she’s standing in front of him. He has to look up to meet her eyes, a whole head taller than his own. She brushes a strand of hair behind his ear and Magnus almost shivers at the coolness of her skin. “We had a deal. No more dying, no more visits from me. What happened?”Magnus nearly blushes. Her voice is so smooth in the dark, so teasing, almost flirtatious. He swallows, and reminds himself that she’s fully capable of and willing to kill him. “I can explain.”Julia grins. “I hope so.”
Relationships: Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	flirting with death. or: being flirted with by death?

Shit is  _ weird _ , to say the least. Died a fuck ton, looped a lot, talked to a cup, all in an hour. On top of it, Magnus learned that there’s a statue of him in a red robe in Refuge? He doesn’t really know what that means and it hurts his head to think too much about it. So it’s with a near empty brain that he gets back to the dorm.

It’s dark in here and his eyes haven’t adjusted, but he reaches the coat rack by the door fine enough. He shucks off his cloak and hangs it up, and for good measure pulls his hair out of its ponytail, feeling the pressure around his scalp lessen and strands of hair fall around his face and neck. It’s a type of pressure he gets used to, as is the pressure of all the gear he’s wearing. Gods he just wants to climb into bed and—

There’s another person in the room. Sat on the couch, arms over the back and legs crossed, like they own the place. Tall, taller than Magnus, and big. Imposing. His eyes finally adjust completely and he makes out her face.

She looks back into his eyes and recognizes his recognition. She stands.

“Magnus, right? We need to talk,” she says, crossing the room until she’s standing in front of him. He has to look up to meet her eyes, a whole head taller than his own. She brushes a strand of hair behind his ear and Magnus almost shivers at the coolness of her skin. “We had a deal. No more dying, no more visits from me. What happened?”

Magnus nearly blushes. Her voice is so smooth in the dark, so teasing, almost flirtatious. He swallows, and reminds himself that she’s fully capable of and willing to kill him. “I can explain.”

Julia grins. “I hope so.”

* * *

She hopes she didn’t come on too strong. She originally aimed for intimidating, appearing in the dark and talking about how bad he messed up. But it quickly turned more flirty; she chooses to blame that on Magnus. His stupidly cute face and cute hair that he let down and she couldn’t  _ not _ brush it away for him. And he looked so flustered at that, which was even cuter. Is it really Julia’s fault when she agreed to whatever he said next? Even if it meant not resolving the death crime situation right then and there?

Point is, they rescheduled. Magnus got her stone of farspeech frequency and set up a place and time for them to talk. Only she was  _ really _ confused when she ended up in front of an oddly named wine and pottery place. Now it’s her turn to be caught off guard.

When she walked in, everyone there was coupled up, clearly on dates, except for Magnus, who sat alone, waiting for her. When he saw her he waved and smiled, somewhere between nervous, happy, and relieved.

She sits down at the seat next to him, pulling off her suit jacket and loosely folding it up next to her. “I have to say, I didn’t expect to talk here. You… do know we’re talking about necromantic crimes and the fate of an entire small town, right?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I just, uh, I thought it’d be better to do this in a more… public space? Just in case? Oh, that rhymed. Ha.”

He looks nervous as fuck, which Julia is used to seeing from the mortals she’s met. But he’s different from them. “I’m not going to hurt you, Magnus. I’ve excused your bounty, same with your friends and the people of Refuge.”

He visibly relaxes a considerable amount. But he still looks a little off. Strangely, he was more in his element when he was fighting a crystal monster in a doomed robot lab. He says, “Then, uh, what’s the visit for?”

“What, I can’t come visit you?” Julia flirts, just to see him flustered and fumbling again. Gods, she really should be nicer to the poor guy. She laughs and says, “I’m kidding. I came to talk about how you jumped up to thirty deaths, and what the deal was with the people in Refuge. I just want to make sense of it.”

“Right, that. It’s a lot to explain.”

He does so, and during his story Julia sits and listens. Part way through an instructor gives them wine to drink and clay to shape, so they at least have something to do during it. (Julia notices, with smugness, the look Magnus gives her when she rolls up her sleeves to start shaping, conveniently showing off her arms.) By the end of the story, Julia is halfway through a less than decent vase. His is already turning out way better, even if he’s putting more effort into explaining the little girl who wielded the chalice.

“That is… that’s a wild story, Magnus.”

“I’m not lying!” he insists, and she interrupts him before he launches into a defense.

“I don’t think you’re lying. I’ve seen the damage these relics can do. I was hunting even during the wars, I saw the devastation up close.”

“Oh,” Magnus says, only a little bit awkward. She continues talking and he goes back to his vase.

“I don’t have a bounty out on you, your friends, or anyone in Refuge. Like I said, I’m just here to get the full picture. I’m curious about it, but I’m mainly here because The Raven Queen sent me. An entire community of people dying repeatedly but not reporting to her domain is cause for concern, at the very least.”

Magnus nods, clearly listening even if he’s staring at his sculpting. She says, “Honestly, the amount of times I’ve had to meet with you must mean that this job is  _ very _ dangerous. I know it’s necessary, but… if I may, why aren’t you doing something safer?”

Wait, why is she suddenly concerned with his safety? He’s just a bounty, a death criminal who’s evaded her queen tens of times now. She shouldn’t care about him, but looking at his face, scrunched up and thinking of a response, she finds that she can’t help herself. Fuck it, she’s allowed to care, just a little.

“I’m not sure anyone else would have me,” Magnus says and Julia sees the clear resignation to that fact on his face.

“What?” she asks.

“Well I can’t exactly put any of this on a resume, no one would get it,” he says. He explained this voidfish thing but she still doesn’t really understand it. “And as for my past jobs, anyone who could verify my credentials are… let’s call ‘em subjects of your queen’s domain.”

_ Oh _ . …Oh.

“I’m sorry,” she says. It’s all she can say, really. Strangely, she’s better at comforting the already dead. She can’t exactly assure Magnus the transition into the Sea of Souls will be pleasant and expect it to ease his worries.

“No, no don’t be. I… it’s… don’t worry about it,” Magnus says, growing steadily quieter as his sentence progressed. He focuses back on his vase.

She changes the subject, knowing all too well the difference between someone wanting to talk about it and someone not. He doesn’t. “So um, what were your past jobs?”

“Oh! Yeah I was a carpenter,” Magnus says, then smiles sheepishly. “Still am, technically. I can still make a mean chair.”

Julia will admit she’s happy to see his smile. “Really? I noticed you’re much better at pottery than me, I should’ve known you were a craftsman.”

“Yeah! Uh, actually, while we’re on the subject…” He trails off, eyes drifting to Julia’s vase. He reaches a hand out, then pauses and asks, “Can I?”

Julia shakes her head. “Oh no go ahead.”

She watches him place a hand over one of her own and help her hold the clay better, so it’s not as lumpy. His hands are so  _ warm _ . Are all mortals this warm or is it just him? Either way she doesn’t care, she likes feeling his hand guide hers. She spares a glance his way and he’s focused on helping her shape it better, eyebrows furrowed a little.

“Hold it just… like… that!” He smiles, proud of himself and her alike. He looks up at her and catches her staring. They lock eyes for a moment and he chuckles a little, breaking hand contact and leaning back to his wheel, but still staring.

“You’re doing great,” he says.

“Thanks,” she says. Regrettably, begrudgingly, she breaks the lingering eye contact to make sure she’s actually “doing great.”

Magnus coughs a little. “You’re uh, you’re hands, they’re—”

“Cold?”

“Yeah.”

“Being dead will do that to you,” she says. The vase is… decent. But not quite fitting her mental image of an ideal Julia Waxmen Original. But not for long, if she has any say in it.

“Oh, uh, I didn’t mean to bring that up, sorry.”

Julia laughs a little, clearly shocking Magnus by the look on his face when she looks out the corner of her eye at him. “If I was still upset about my death, I wouldn’t be fit for my job.” He looks confused, so she continues, “I died millenia ago. I’m probably older than whatever made these Grand Relic things.”

“Ah.” Magnus says, then laughs at himself. “Sorry, this is weird, being on a— having a talk with The Grim Reaper.”

Right. “Speaking of, and sorry if this is awkward of me to ask, but…” How does she word this… “was this for business or pleasure?”

“You’re asking me?” Magnus asks, incredulous. His pretty face is blushing. He gestures wildly as he says, “You’re the one who did the thing with the dark and the hair and the voice!”

Julia laughs again, though it’s more of a giggle. “Yeah. Yeah I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to be so… forward.”

“Oh no I—” He shuts himself up and tries again with an amusing attempt at casual. “I didn’t mind.”

Julia grins. “Oh really?” If she leans in closer, no she didn’t. If she relished in seeing Magnus’ casual expression fly out the window and be replaced with an utter mess of flustered, no she  _ didn’t _ .

Actually, fuck it. Yes she did. She totally did. She loves messing with this mortal man and his easily blushing face. He’s cute, sue her.

“I uh, um, uh…”

Julia laughs as she leans back, probably drawing some eyes to her. She doesn’t care, even if her work usually requires stealth. She says to Magnus, “In that case, this is definitely a date, Magnus Burnsides.”

He… grins. Nervous and giddy and dark in the face. He’s  _ so fucking cute _ . “Cool! Yeah, cool, nice, great.”

She notices something and chuckles a bit, pointing. “You’re vase.”

He looks over to where it’s become considerably lumpier. “Oh! Oh shit hold on.” He goes back to work and she follows. They fall into a comfortable silence as they work, chill music and idle chatter from fellow patrons drifting lazily around them.

After a while, the pottery wheel finally slows to a stop. Julia leans back and looks at her vase. Significantly better than before Magnus helped her, at least. Maybe after this, on one of her breaks between bounties, she’ll add some paint and make it look nice.

Magnus’ vase, on the other hand, is perfect. He even used his finger to make little grooves and designs in the clay. It looks like something that would be sold in stores. She says, “You really are good at this.”

“Thanks! Yours is good too, especially for a first timer. I could barely make anything more than a cylinder,” he says, “You have a natural talent for this stuff!”

His joy is like the warmth of the sun, she just wants to bask in it. But the instructor from before is back and they have to hand over their works to be fired and have to go wash their hands of clay.

At the end of it all they’re walking out of the establishment with their vases into the cool night air. Magnus is filling the silence by talking more about his background in pottery; nothing professional, he’s way more of a carpenter, but he’s dabbled in all kinds of hands-on crafts like this.

“I’ll have to see what else you’ve made next time,” Julia says. She’s fully aware of the implications.

“Next time?” Magnus asks.

“Yeah, if… that’s okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah, no that’s perfectly okay.”

They make eye contact for a beat, then Magnus dissolves into giggles and Julia joins him. They calm down enough for Julia to say, “Great. We’ll keep in touch then?”

“Yeah,” Magnus says with a smile that turns contemplative. “Though I should tell the other two about The Grim Reaper not trying to kill us anymore.”

“Yes, uh… I’ll apologize to Merle the next time I see him.”

“Oh that, right,” Magnus says, “He actually blames me for that? I don’t know why.”

“How would it be your fault?”

“His arm was, you know, crystalizing, and we didn’t want it to spread and kill him, so I just uh,” he makes a chopping motion with one hand. “Got rid of it.”

“Oh. Oh! Oh I’m sorry!” Julia feels bad, real bad. Especially knowing now that their crimes were… accidental or a mistake in the books or something.

Magnus looks like he’s going to tell her it’s okay, but holds himself back. He can’t exactly tell her it’s not her fault. Or his, for that matter.

Fuck. Now it’s awkward. Julia changes the subject. “So! What um, what flowers do you think I should put in here?” she asks, gesturing to her vase.

Magnus starts to ponder the question, but instead asks, “Wait, do flowers grow in the Astral Plane?”

“Kind of?” Julia shrugs. “In my corner of the plane I can summon things, control what happens to an extent, that kind of stuff. I can summon flowers or make them start growing. I just don’t know what flowers to pick.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Kind of.” Magnus looks off, pondering. “Uh… why not lavender? I think they’re pretty.”

They are pretty, aren’t they? “Lavender it is, then.”

The two of them have been walking as they talked and Julia only now realizes it’s been towards what must be the dormitory building. Magnus comes to a stop and says, “This is my stop.”

“Then this is where we part ways.”

“Yeah. Or, wait. How are you getting back to the plane?”

Julia holds out her hand and summons her scythe. She rests it over her shoulder and says, “I got it covered.”

“Oh, cool. That’s really nice,” Magnus says, eyeing the blade.

“And plenty magical,” Julia says, “I… I had a really nice time, Magnus. I know this was weird but, I enjoyed myself.”

Magnus nods. “Yeah, me too! It was… nice.”

Julia nods too. “I guess I’ll see you some other time.”

“Yeah. Uh, goodnight Julia.” He opens the door and he steps through.

“Goodnight.”

He waves one final time and the door closes behind him. Julia waits a moment, then rips a portal with her scythe, and disappears off the moon.

Once she’s back on her island, in her house, she places the vase on the table usually reserved for the once in a blue moon she feels like eating. It clashes a little against the dark wood furniture, but she’ll get around to that painting project. Maybe with Magnus’ help.

She smiles at the thought. Of him painting with her, yes, and of him in general. The whole dating thing is… something she hasn’t done in a while, and she’s glad to be back at it. Having a handsome date to go out with certainly makes it more fun. She’s already looking forward to the next time he calls her, to be honest.

With a thoughtful smile, she waves her hand and heads off to her bedroom to get some unnecessary but enjoyable shut-eye. Nestled in the vase are a few sprigs of lavender.

**Author's Note:**

> carey and killian trying to have a nice date and watching magnus being flirted with by the grim reaper: 👁️👄👁️
> 
> so i have a [shipswap au](https://comradelup.tumblr.com/post/627015233077149696) and i got into a Magnulia Mood so. here <3
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](https://comradelup.tumblr.com) and comment if you feel like it <3


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